Aftermath of the Known Events

The story I am about to tell you has been passed down for years. It is of the journey to our salvation; the fight for the planet. It is of the conquerors who struck down our death bringer, the one-winged angel, Sephiroth. This is the legend of how these two goliath monstrosities came to linger in our blackened skies for all eternity, to remind us of our fate, how we changed it, and how not to repeat it.

"Grandma, if you keep telling us this 'story' from the beginning, we'll never get to the end!"

"Don't call it a 'story'! This is a great legend; the reason we are still alive today to even be sitting here in Midgar. You don't understand what it was like back then. Living in constant fear…"

"I'm sorry grandma. I want to hear the story though! I want to know about Cloud!"

"Ah, yes. He is the man whom you were named after. You're parents were successful in picking the perfect name for you. You even resemble him! You are so lucky. Why I'm sure if we spiked your hair, you would look just like him, Cloud."

"Oh wow! You really saw him grandma? That's so cool!"

"Yes, I remember seeing him often back then. He was really close to my father. They used to fight like bitter enemies, they did sometimes. I remember one time seeing him, he gave me a flower. That was when I was still very young. We were inside the 7th Heaven, down in Sector 7."

--"Wow, Midgar was still in Sectors then? In school, we're just learning about the Unification."

"Yes dear, the Unification did not come until much later on. In fact, Sector 7 was destroyed long before the Unification. It was not until after that most of the debris was cleared away."

--"You know grandma, sometimes I don't realize just how old you are."

--"Do you want to go to bed now? Because I will make you, even though the sun is up."

--"I'm sorry but you just wont get to the story."

--"Then be a good boy and stop interrupting me."

--"Are those your father's genes talking?"

--"Hoo-ha, you are a clever one. Yes, Barret did have quite the short temper that, sadly, I did inherit."

--"Hehe, it is Barret's temper fighting with me, Cloud."

--"Just like the good old days."

"I believe I remember where I left off. Cloud and his party had just finished entering the depths of the Northern Crater."

When they reached the bottom of the massive scar in the earth, the spirit of the planet gushed all around them. They journeyed to the center of the earth where they faced Sephiroth's mother, Jenova, once again. After beating Jenova for what they thought to be the final time, they plunged into darkness. Inside the depths of this darkness, waiting for them, was Sephiroth. They first faced him in a bizarre, monster form; a chemical reaction from the Mako poisoning. He had harnessed his madness into a form only he could take, and yet still control, unlike Hojo. The team split into three groups, and one by one, the pieces of the diabolical creation fell. When the dust settled, the core of the monster opened to reveal the final form of Sephiroth, the One Winged Angel. He raged on with the strength of a supernova, but it was Cloud and his team that prevailed in the end.

After the battle, Cloud faced his own inner demon. The battle was a result of pent up hatred; the hatred of always being second to Sephiroth. Though they had just destroyed him, something was wrong. Why would Cloud feel second best to someone he had just beaten? It was because somewhere deep inside, he had a feeling that this fight wasn't over. And boy was he right. Though they had destroyed his body, Sephiroth still existed in the depths of Cloud's mind. After releasing his own inner subconscious, he fell into the darkness of his past; the Sephiroth he had thought he had known. The Sephiroth he had fought side by side against in the Mako reactor that day, when his friendship was betrayed. He struggled against his mind for what seemed like hours, when he finally broke. Everything inside him fueled a powerful Omnislash attack that sliced Sephiroth into submission.

When he came to, Tifa and Cloud evacuated the crater onto the Highwind. There, Cid flew for his life to escape the destruction just behind them. There, in the window of the cockpit, they gazed unto Anima, the colossal result of Sephiroth's Black Materia. The Meteor, Anima, broke into the planet's atmosphere. It is said to have come almost a hundred feet just above the Shinra Office Building before being confronted by the heavenly power of the White Materia, Holy. The lands of the earth twisted and roared in a fierce energy struggle. Tornados of the life stream flowed up above the ground all around. It lasted six minutes, but the Meteor, Anima, was finally stopped. The clash of all the magic somehow distorted the gravity around that area in our atmosphere. That is why Anima still lingers there today in our sky.

Aboard the Highwind, Cloud told his team about what had happened in the crater. Yuffie and Cid called him crazy, but Vincent had a different feeling. He knew of premonitions; he had been through some in his long sleep. He told Cloud not to be surprised if Sephiroth was alive. The tone of the ship suddenly became solemn. They did not feel victorious. Somehow deep inside, Cloud's battle with Sephiroth in his mind weighed heavily upon them. How could Sephiroth still be alive after all they just fought him with? They didn't need to look for a reason. After all, if they needed a reminder of his power, they could just look out the window and gaze into the sky.

The crew needed a new destination, but where to go? If Sephiroth really was alive, how would they know, or even where to start looking? They decided to look for this wisdom in the Cosmo Canyon. Cloud visited the Astronomy room to gaze at the planets in orbit; of course there was a new entity hovering over the earth, but it was all pretty much the same. It was then that he caught sight of what he had left in this room a few days ago. Cloud could not put together any part of this puzzle yet, but he knew that the Huge Materia must have something to do with it. Why would the planet create Huge Materia? If the materia was merely Mako energy condensed, then how could it ever reach this state, and what made it so much more powerful than ordinary materia?

Cloud took the Huge Materia crystals with him. They left the Cosmo Canyon with no new insight on their situation.

"You know I can't be gone…."

The voice awoke Cloud with a violent start. This could not continue. Sephiroth was still very much alive, and powerful enough to call to him from wherever he was hiding. Or, he was just going crazy, but this explanation seemed unlikely. Just as he was about to leave his cabin and head onto the deck, Tifa ran in. "Come quick, you have to see this Cloud!"

The Highwind now soared over the Midwest continent. They approached the large, square-shaped crater; the only remains of The Temple of the Ancients. But something was different, or wrong. In this crater, four new objects stood rising above the ground, but only to sea level. Upon their descent, they realized that they were also miniature temples. With no other clues or strange occurrences to go on, they assumed that this should be their next stop. Though Barret suggested that the team split into four groups, Cloud and the rest agreed that if these temples were anything like the original, that it would be too dangerous without the entire team.

They all approached the entrance to the temple closest to the Highwind. They walked up the stairs for what seemed like three minutes of pure climbing. When they finally reached the door, they gazed into the main chamber. It had the same layout as the Temple of the Ancients. There was a glass basin at the end of the room; above, a parchment with written text of the Ancients. A familiar female voice in Cloud's head read him the parchment, and he in turn read it to his team. "Here lies the gate to our true power. Place the Key Stones into the respective basins to open the realms of these temples. You will face many hardships, and at the end, you will face the guardian of this temple. If you prevail, it will grant you its power. These temples standing here can only mean that this planet is once against struggling for the right to its existence."

After reading the message, they knew that this would be very, very much like before. Only last time they had a Key Stone! Somehow they got the impression that Dio at the Gold Saucer wouldn't have four more though, and thought hard on how they could enter. How could he forget? Immediately, Cloud placed the Huge Materia of Magic into the basin and they were thrust into the ancient world once again.

Gazing upon the twisting staircases in every direction, Barret said, "$&!!!" A few hours later, they reached a room of a giant circular clock. After three dead end routes, they finally reached a mazelike room where they had caught the small, Ancient man months ago. This time, the heavy, metal door was already opened.

The candle-lit, pyramid-like hallway was a sight to see. Upon its walls were pictures that signified something that no one could interpret. The last wall inscription was obvious; a giant meteor. No one could mistake that. But upon this wall, the clues were far vaguer. At the end of the hall, they could make out a small pedestal, much like the one that contained the Black Materia. There, they faced a large entity; the guardian of the temple. It was a large green dragon, roughly twice as large as how the temple appeared to be from the outside. The green dragon, Kamaya, fought against Cloud and his team valiantly, for to him, they were intruders. After Yuffie performed a successful "All Creation" level 4 Limit Break, Red XIII cast a "Wall" spell to protect the group. Cloud unleashed a "Knights of the Round" summon spell for massive damage against the beast. The dragon fell to the ground, and it was at this point that its armor began to open from the center. It revealed a large energy core, powered by the same Huge Materia of Magic that Cloud had used as the Key Stone. The Materia flashed violently and was followed by blinding streams of green and teal which filled the now blackened room. The dragon triple-cast an "Ultima" spell that would have wiped out at last two members of the team had "Wall" not been in effect.

After the dragons beautiful and powerful display of force, it collapsed and shattered into pieces that soon vanished. The team approached the pedestal to find what appeared to be a stick and a vat of goop. Once again Barret muttered something like, "All that work for this $#!!??" When Cait Sith attempted to pick up this "stick", however, the hand of his stuffed body burned away. Everyone was relieved that it had not been them who picked it up, but rather someone with an "expendable" hand. Then came the voice again. "Pick it up my puppet. Do not fear it."

Cloud screamed in agony. He fell to his knees and clutched the temples of his head. When he awoke possessed, the team wondered what he would do this time, considering last time that he gave the Black Materia to Sephiroth. When this Cloud grabbed the "stick", it began to pulse in his hands while burning them up with heat. He placed the stick in the vat of green goop. The object was no longer a stick, but a glorious golden handle, embedded with gemstones, but for what purpose?

Sephiroth spoke to the group through Cloud as if they were equals. "So you continue to threaten the life of this planet? You are all fools. I am not your enemy. The only way to save this mockery of life is through destruction. Do you know what the writing on these walls tell of? Allow me to read it to you. 'And with the halting of Anima, the force of Holy will be dispersed forever more. The One Winged Angel from above shall purify the world with chaos and lead all worthy to the holy land, The Promised Land.' This handle is to the 'Diamond Breaker'. Take it to each temple and power it up. It will have the ability to destroy life energy, even in its purest form."

Cloud began to fight the apparition in his head, but to the rest of the team it appeared as though he began to argue with himself. "Why would we want to destroy life energy Sephiroth!?"

"How do you think I still exist? Though you halted my first summoning of Anima, my 'other' plan was a complete success. You see, I have become one with the planet! I will destroy this place from within the Life Stream, and if you wish to stop me you must destroy the Planet's Spirit. This will cause the earth to become unstable, and it will crumble into the darkness of space! The plan is flawless. I know because I can read these walls that show my prophecy; the prophecy written by The Cetra and my mother generations ago. It is all already planned out. Even with me telling you all this and helping you have these pieces of the puzzle, you still won't win. You can't change your planet's fate; the walls prove it!"

Cloud awoke on the Highwind, hoping that every temple would not be responded to with a visit from Sephiroth. His weary mind could not take this all in. It wasn't fair. They had tried so hard, yet they still failed. The only thing that hurt more was the thought that their failure had already been predicted long before normal people even inhabited the earth. And the writings on the walls, what did they mean? "Shall purify the world with chaos…" He couldn't let this happen, but for now all he could do was follow what Sephiroth said and power the Diamond Breaker. He knew that Sephiroth wasn't lying about that. He was the darkest evil, yet he had told nothing but the truth for his confidence in his plan was unwavering.